On the Irish side of the business, Dalata said that fewer UK visitors had come to Dublin in the first six months of the year due to the weaker pound. But this was offset by American and European tourists. A new hotel at Dublin Airport is currently under construction.

What the company said

"Our UK portfolio has had a very strong performance to date in 2017 and we significantly outperformed the market in the cities in which we operate," said chief executive Pat McCann.

"We are monitoring the reduction in UK visitors to Ireland since the Brexit vote in 2016. To date, overall visitor numbers remain robust due to growth in other markets. Our strategy of retaining substantial volumes of corporate and tour group business in our hotels makes us less reliant on the UK transient visitor."